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Essex (423-5) v Kent (381): Nasser makes belated century

THE celebration was muted but gracious all the same. By first acknowledging the crowd and then his county teammates, who had gathered on the dressing-room balcony, Nasser Hussain was perhaps addressing one of the more glaring inconsistencies in English cricket. Hussain had last scored a Championship century for Essex four years ago. Having been appointed England captain earlier that summer, he has made five Test hundreds in the meantime.

There have, admittedly, been precious few opportunities for Hussain to redress the balance in favour of the county that still refers to him as club captain. Since making 143 against Nottinghamshire in the last round of the 1999 season, he has made just seven Championship appearances in which he has scored 140 runs.

He has not held back during that time in criticising some aspects of the county system in not preparing cricketers for the Test arena. Critics of Hussain, meanwhile,